NEW BREMEN — The Ohio Department of Agriculture is accepting comments on a draft permit to install and draft permit to operate the existing “East Creek Farm LLC” facility.
Located at 8704 State Route 274, the facility is owned by Jim and Pamela Fleck and currently has four poultry barns for 818,640 laying hens and three cattle barns for 1,085 steers.
The permit to install aims to increase Layer Barn No. 4’s capacity by 65,000 hens and add two new barns, resulting in a total capacity of 1,643,640 hens and 1,085 steers. Estimated annual manure production includes 11,632 tons of solid manure and 1.5 million gallons of egg processing wastewater.
East Creek Farm has 950 acres designated for the application of manure and wastewater. The permit application includes a complete manure management plan, a comprehensive insect and rodent control plan, a mortality management plan and an emergency response plan. The facility must also keep compliance records that are regularly inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, detailing the inspections and monitoring that the facility must carry out.
If permits are issued, the permit to install would be valid for two years, and the permit to operate would be valid for five years.
Comments can be mailed to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Livestock Environmental Permitting, 8995 East Main Street, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068, or emailed to [email protected].
A public meeting will be held when required by the OAC. Individuals have a right to provide a written or oral statement for the record at the public meeting if a meeting is scheduled.
